


that flighty temptress, adventure

by mollivanders



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Community: vacationthon, F/M, Fluff, Holidays
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-20
Updated: 2011-07-20
Packaged: 2017-10-29 17:49:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/322522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mollivanders/pseuds/mollivanders
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Ron said he wanted to take her on a Muggle holiday, Hermione was torn between curiosity and concern.</p>
            </blockquote>





	that flighty temptress, adventure

**Author's Note:**

> **Title:** that flighty temptress, adventure  
>  **Author:**  
>  **Fandom:** Harry Potter  
>  **Characters/Pairing:** Ron/Hermione, Ginny  
>  **Rating:** G  
>  **Word Count:** 1,143  
>  **Disclaimer:** I own none of these characters or stories.  
>  **Spoilers/Warnings:** No spoilers, per se, though it'll help if you've read the series.  
>  **Summary:** Sometimes cheerful bravado comes back to haunt you.  
>  **Author’s Note:** Original story [here](http://vacationthon.livejournal.com/8607.html#cutid1)

__

”Well, to tell the truth, skiing’s not really my thing,” said Hermione. “So I’ve come home for Christmas.” There was snow in her hair and her face was pink with cold. “But don’t tell Ron that, I told him it’s really good because he kept laughing so much.” (Order of the Phoenix, 498)

When Ron said he wanted to take her on a Muggle holiday, Hermione was torn between curiosity and concern. As long as it had been since they’d taken time off together, she wasn’t sure Ron really understood what a Muggle holiday involved.

He really should have taken Muggle Studies when he had the chance.

But when she got home, her bag was already packed, with Ginny on her way out.

“You’re going to love this,” Ginny said with a wink and before Hermione could question her, she was gone with a loud crack.

“What’s going on?” Hermione asked a smug-looking Ron but he just shook his head. “I think you should wear this when we get to the train station,” he said, handing her a blindfold. “I want it to be a surprise.”

Despite her nagging worries, Hermione relented. After all, what was the worst that could happen?

***

The blindfold didn’t last for long.

Humoring Ron and his desire for a Muggle holiday had seemed an easy task at first. Let Ginny pack her bag, take the train, play it by ear. But half an hour into the train ride, Hermione’s patience ran out.

“Ron, how much longer?”

“Just you wait and see,” came his self-satisfied answer. He was probably doing the crossword, a habit he picked up from her parents. Maybe she could blame them for this trip.

“Ron, you’ve got to the count of five to black out the windows,” she said, reaching for her blindfold.

“But Hermione –“ he started, until she started pulling at the fabric, and then he muttered a hushed spell at the window. The sunlight vanished and in the gloom, she saw him pull out the Deluminator and make some light.

“This is supposed to be a magic-free weekend,” he said with a pout, but Hermione just rolled her eyes. “I hope, for your sake, that Ginny packed me some books.”

“Here,” he said, digging through her bag and passing her _Jane Eyre_. “Muggle books.”

“Well at least you have good taste,” she answered, smiling at him.

“Blame Ginny, not me,” he replied, but shared her grin before going back to his newspaper. He _was_ doing the crossword, poor thing.

***

The train platform seemed to be in the middle of nowhere, but Ron assured her a bus would come pick them up, based on the weathered-looking schedule he had.

“Honestly, Ron, you’re going to have to tell me where we’re going at _some_ point,” Hermione insisted but Ron just laughed.

“I promise, you’re going to love this,” he said. “You wouldn’t stop talking about it our fifth year, but you didn’t get to stay, so I thought I’d bring you back.”

Hermione stared at Ron, and then at the seemingly abandoned bus stop, and the mountains rearing up in the distance.

“You’re taking me _skiing_?” she squeaked and Ron’s ears turned a bright red.

“I thought it’d be nice,” he started, already on the defense, before Hermione smiled weakly.

“I should probably tell you something.”

***

Hermione had to say she was impressed. The lodge was smaller than where her parents had taken her, but the restaurant looked fancy and the lodge boasted a masseuse.

“Did I forget my birthday? Or our anniversary?” Hermione whispered to Ron, eliciting an amused snort as he carried their luggage in, forgoing magic again.

“When have you ever?” he teased. “I just wanted to surprise you.”

Outside the lobby windows, Hermione spotted a lift carrying people up to the summit and her stomach half-heartedly flopped. It couldn’t be that bad – probably like riding a bike.

Except she’d never learned to do that properly, either.

***

“We don’t have to go skiing if you don’t want to,” Ron said as they hiked out to the ski lift, puffing under the many layers Hermione had insisted upon if they weren’t going to use magic.

(“And you don’t want to try frostbite without magic either,” she’d warned him.

“What do you know about frostbite without magic?” he’d asked back.)

“No, I’m sure we’ll be fine,” Hermione said, focusing on the hill. The bunny slope, that was one option. But she’d done that before; she just hadn’t _liked_ it very much.

“Let’s try that hill,” she suggested, pointing to a small mountain and ignoring Ron’s skeptical look. This had been this idea, after all. Magic or not, she was still going to best him.

***

“It’s not that bad,” she insisted, hopping on one foot while Ron worriedly supported her arm. “I could just carry you,” he suggested before backing off at her death glare. He’d even offered to break the no-magic rule, but there was little magic could do to speed up this process.

The instructor said she’d only landed wrong on her ankle, and the swelling should go down in a few hours, but she was grounded for the day. Ron, of course, had done splendidly.

In fact, she wasn’t entirely sure he wasn’t drawing on his Quidditch skills which seemed like _using magic_ to her, but she wasn’t all that fussed. _Jane Eyre_ and the masseuse were waiting, after all, and Ron was looking both amused and contrite, which suited her just fine.

“You can still go skiing, you know,” she said after he’d made sure she was curled up with her book and hot chocolate, but he shook his head and dug out the travel chess set she’d bought him a few years back.

“There’d be no point in that, now would there?”

The book could wait, she decided. She’d never tell him, but she enjoyed chess almost as much as he did, even if she never won.

And there were some things they never needed magic for at all.

***

The last day of the trip, Hermione insisted on trying the ski slopes again, no matter how much Ron fussed like a mother hen.

“I’m just going to stand over here,” he said, staring at her with a worried brow. The instructor shared a look with Hermione who grinned, staring down the slope. It didn’t seem nearly as intimidating as other things.

Like her N.E.W.T.s. Or Voldemort. Or Molly Weasley in a rage.

With that thought in mind, she pushed off.

When Ron met her at the bottom, praising her (rather shaky, but to his credit, not a word was mentioned of it) form and arriving in one piece, Hermione smirked at him, flushed from her trip down.

“But next time I’ll let you plan the holiday,” he said, and she rolled her eyes at him.

“This wasn’t bad at all,” she said honestly, and squeaked in surprise when he pulled her against him, lips hovering near hers but not quite touching.

“Always the tone of surprise,” he teased and Hermione sighed dramatically, leaning into the kiss, his body an island of heat in the snowy chill.

_Finis_


End file.
